Jose Benavidez is the latest former Terence Crawford opponent to make his prediction for next month’s bout with Canelo Alvarez.
‘Bud’ will attempt to upset the odds when he moves up two weight divisions to 168lbs to challenge Canelo for his undisputed super-middleweight champion at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 13.
A victory would see Crawford become the first ever male fighter to be a three-weight undisputed champion, having already achieved that honour at super-lightweight and welterweight.
One of the men ‘Bud’ defeated in a title defence at 147lbs was Benavidez, with the American claiming a 12th round stoppage victory when they fought back in October 2018.
Having felt what it was like to share the ring with Crawford, Benavidez spoke to Fight Hub TV about the clash with Canelo, revealing he is backing his former rival to come out on top.
“A lot of people are counting Crawford out but he’s a beast. He’s smart, he knows what he’s doing. Canelo is not that big of a guy. He obviously weighs more but you can’t take nothing from Crawford. He goes in there to win, so I feel like it’ll be a good fight. I got Crawford.
“He adjusts. He’s smart. Not only does he switch from southpaw to orthodox but he has a high IQ in boxing. All these fighters that go in there to fight Canelo they already go in there scared which already beats them. Crawford is going to go in there to win.”
Jose Benavidez is the brother of David Benavidez, the undefeated two-weight world champion who has been chasing a fight with Canelo for a number of years but it has never been able to materialise, and ‘The Mexican Monster’ has also made his prediction for next month’s battle.
